Battle Scar
by 3431jess
Summary: For centuries Maui had been keeping his looks impeccable as one would expect of a god like him. But recently, he had been thinking about the value of one's superficial beauty. ONE SHOT


For centuries, Maui had been keeping his looks impeccable, as one would expect from a god like him―his bronze skin was smooth like a sculpture, his hair was lustrous free from tangle, his skin imprinted with the chronicle of his heroic deeds, his abs weaved with delicious ridges and his bulging biceps was a lot bigger than two coconuts.

But recently, he had been thinking about the value of one's superficial beauty.

All began when he noticed a strange indentation on Moana's back, on her shoulder blade, right underneath her right ear. Of course, Maui didn't ask her verbally until he had a chance to inspect it himself to make sure what it was nothing stupid like love bites (not that he could think of anyone who could come close to 'bite' her without getting through him alive.)

He had baited her to do a hair-bun trade―by telling her: she could do any hairstyle experimentation on his, while he did one on her.

Despite her dubious frown at his strange offer, Moana agreed. After an hour or so, Maui ended up with four plaits, a ponytail adorned with little pink flowers (which made him looked like a proper sea monster invited to a girly tea party), but it's all well worth it because he had successfully seen the blemish that marked her skin―it was a burn mark.

He dared himself to trace it with one of his idle hands while the other still holding to her half-done bun. Moana immediately withdrew at his touch.

"Maui!" she exclaimed, pulling her long hair down to cover her shoulder.

Suddenly became self-aware, he quickly apologized,"Sorry… I was just… curious, y'know. Since when you got…. _that_?" he looked pointedly at her shoulder.

"Ugh... _this_?" she braced herself, as though covering a scandalized sin."It's nothing really," she pushed his hand, trying to stave off his burning curiosity.

"Oh come on! We are friends right?" he cornered her with firm determination. "You said there is no secret between buddies. I've told you all my bad habits of peeing in the ocean, picking my nose during dinner, and peeking bathing women… now you can't even tell me what those marks are? _Really_?"

"Ok fine...fine…" Moana exhaled exasperatedly, looking at her toes. "This is the burn mark during our battle against Te Ka," her voice was almost a whisper, she stole a quick glance at him."Happy now?"

His heart suddenly ached so bad, as if a hot knife pierced and twisted through him. He was there…..and was coward enough to leave her alone (even when he did return at some point, but in one heart-stopping moment he thought he wouldn't see her alive).

His hand reached the leftover of her trauma, pausing his finger there as if remembering his unpaid debt. Moana gently placed her hand on the top of his and spoke gently."This is exactly why I had never keen to tell you what it was. This is not your fault. Never is," she patted his hand and paid him a smile." This is a mark of our adventure that I would retell to my children and grandchildren… of _you_ , of _us_."

 _This_ was the instance that kindled Maui's sudden obsession with all things to do with battle scars.

* * *

Tui had a strange line coursing down his shoulder towards the ridges of his abdomen. Maui immediately noticed how the blemish had affected the way his tattoos appeared on his skin as if giving a slight edge of optical illusion. That had been the first time Maui met the towering mortal after Moana told him so many great things about her dad, the charismatic Chief of Motunui.

Maui had been involved in many physical assaults to be able to identify the culprit of the scar when he saw one. And the calloused skin on Tui's abdomen? That was a taiaha, a close-quarters staff weapon made from either wood or whalebone, and by the look of the depth of the scar, it must have been quite a serious scuffle.

But seeing the long-suffering, patient and wise mortal that Tui was, Maui wondered who could be cruel enough to even think of inflicting such pain? Besides, even though the demigod dwarfed Tui by a head or two, the Chief of Motonui was relatively a burly guy compared to many other mortals. And he wasn't just intimidatingly big and tall, his muscle was painstakingly dense, and his shoulder was as big as cart. Messing with him will guarantee to spell out one-way ticket to misery and pain.

The scar was the first thing Maui noticed about Tui. Yes, it was the _first_ thing―not his tattoos, not his beautiful wife (ok, perhaps his beautiful daughter) nor his unhealthy obsession with all things dealing with coconut.

But of course, as manly-man, Maui never had the audacity to ask the Chief about his mysterious blemishes―it was almost equivalent to asking a woman what her weight or waist measurement is, which is completely inappropriate. Besides, no man be willing to discuss his vulnerability and weaknesses―especially in the presence of another man.

Somehow, even when Maui never asked nor expected the Chief to expound the dark secret behind his battle scar, Tui seemed to be able to decipher the glint of inquisitiveness sparkled in the Demigod's eyes.

"Ehem…." Tui's baritone voice snapped Maui from his trance. The demigod blushed furiously when he realized his eyeballs were staring openly to Tui's scar with his face just an arm's length away―something that he found very irresistible to do. _He must think I am a psychotic demigod for admiring his battle marks._ Maui swallowed thickly but flashed one of his goofy grins to cover his embarrassment.

"I used to be a pirate once," the Chief said nonchalantly, crossed his arm and sank on his seat.

"What..―? You―? A Pirate? You gotta be joking!" Maui gaped in disbelief.

"Believe me, a lot of things can happen when you are a hormonally imbalanced teenager with physical growth that didn't go hand in hand with your mental maturity," he smiled while exhausting his memory."Testosterone made you unruly and…. _wild_ ," he added a rare smug grin.

"But, you? Unruly, wild teenager? A Pirate?" Maui repeated. A vivid depiction of Tui wearing eye-patch and snarling fiendishly like Kakamora evoked in his head."I still can't see it until the next millennia." Maui shook his head with unfeigned wonder. Somehow, Tui didn't look regretting that scandalous chronicle of his life―not when Maui saw him grinning proudly.

"Yes, so that was a story. I'd been on a lot of fight, sometimes lucky and sometime…" he pointed out as his neck and made a slashing motion,"I could be six feet under by now. But, you see―no one couldn't think rationally when they were young and foolish."

"Were you tried to impress Sina by doing those… crazy undertaking?"

The Chief burst into laughter."No―no… I didn't try to impress anyone. I told you, there was simply no good reason behind this. My scar is a souvenir from the past, a memento―documenting the journey I have left behind. And this obviously had reminded me that I was a foolhardy, dimwitted youth once."

Maui frowned. "I thought mortal like to look good, keep their shape and such."

Tui became thoughtful."I suppose you are right to some extent… I mean, who didn't want to look _perfect_?" He chuckled, looking at the bewildered demigod pointedly. "But… there time whereby looks became the last significant thing you cared about. When I met Sina, I knew she didn't want me to be _perfect_. She wanted me to be _real_ ," he concluded, absently rubbing the calloused skin over the ridges of his abdomen with his thumb.

The Chief looked at the Demigod who still raptly listening to him, Tui's smile grew a fraction wider when an idea bubbled in his mind, "Besides, scars made you look…. _hotter_ and more manly," he said in husky, deep voice that Maui found both creepy and enticing at the same time."At least that what Sina told me," he said before dusting his lavalava skirt and leaving Maui alone with his thought.

* * *

Even the most fragile looking mortal had beaten Maui in scar department.

Gramma Tala―the deceased mortal―visited the shore of Motonui once, perhaps to talk to Moana, but she had settled for the second best when her granddaughter was nowhere to be found.

"Oh hello, Demigod," she grinned, making her face lit up one shade brighter in a strange bluish effulgence.

"Oh hi, Gramma," Maui replied politely.

"Ehem… call me Tala, I _am_ younger than you," she pointed out while one of her aging hand twiddled with her necklace and the other idle one poised firmly on her hip. It was then Maui noticed her crooked fingers that looked like being furiously snapped by something big… sharp… and _hungry_.

Suddenly became socially conscious, Maui tore his gaze and tried to find an interesting enough subject to talk with the old woman. Wait, not old. _Dead_.

"Ugh… want some…. _coconut_?" He offered the first edible object he could see within proximity. Tala snickered softly at Maui's lame attempt to strike a conversation.

"Ah Maui, you are so proper… it's _adorable_ ," she came closer, and landed her crooked finger to pinch his cheek.

 _Ouch!_ Maui rubbed the sore spot to comfort the pain. Being dead obviously didn't reduce Tala's lethal pinch.

"Yeah, why not. It's been a year since the last time I drank," she answered him teasingly. With a single swing of his magical Fish Hook, the fruit crash landed right on Tala's waiting hands.

"Thank y..―"

"Your welcome," Maui grinned hubristically, but his eyes were persistently tracking Tala's finger in unmistakable wonder. Realizing the odd movement of the demigod's eyeballs, Tala immediately raised her concern.

"Seem like you are captivated by my _lovely_ fingertips, Maui," the old woman waving the digit of her hand in front of him, watching how his eyes didn't leave them for a second.

That would be rude to say _'they are stupendously ugly._ ' Maui mused. "Ugh, yes… they are… _beautiful_ ," Maui stammered, feeling awkward to lie openly, but he didn't have any other choice. He tried to avert his attention hacking the coconut to avoid further socially awkward situation.

"Ah, your sweet talking won't work on me, Demigod. Do you want to hear a story behind these _cute_ fingers of mine?" Tala wiggled her crooked digits playfully and without any preamble launched into her narration.

"It was my vicious encounter with nature," she began," Moana was probably about six, frolicking under the sun, swimming not very far from the shore. Then, I saw dark silhouette looming closer," the old woman lowered her voice, making a crawling like movement with her oddly shaped fingers."My protective instinct kicked in, and I lunged into the water before it decided to do any harm to my granddaughter. And the beast turned to be a large tiger shark. It bit me as the retaliation of my provoking attack," Tala mocked a painful shrill, pulling her hand reenacting the moment it had been nearly mangled by the shark's razor sharp teeth. "That's what happened," she said, consoling herself by taking a generous sip from the coconut.

Maui felt a deep wince split his face considering possible lethal ramification of such assault. _Thankfully just her finger._ He comforted himself. _Not her head, I could be talking to a headless ghost right now._

Tala watched various kind of reaction contorted Maui's face, ending with 'sorry-to-hear-that' kind of look after listening to her tragic story. "You are such a big softie, aren't you," Maui heard Tala's raspy giggle. After her giggling fit had subsided, the old mortal waved her hand dismissively,"I much rather have crooked finger than losing Moana." A broad smile spread across her face,"If not because of me, Moana probably had been dead and you still waiting for your heroine to save you from being a hermit." Maui scoffed as she elbowed and winked at him mischievously.

"What about you? I am sure you have a lot more _fun_ story than me."

Subsequently, Tala's eyes swept up and down Maui's imposing bulk. No, she wasn't looking at his tattoos, she was looking for something else.

Maui suddenly became aware of himself and began to check for any evidence of battle scar he could brag about, even the minuscule one. Unfortunately, his skin was as impeccable as bronze sculpture, there was nothing… no sign of cuts, callusing skin, or discoloration. Perfect! As a god could be.

"I had been confined on an island for a thousand years, Tala. The only enemy I can face was my own shadow and my little incarnation here," the Demigod defended himself, pointing at the mini version of him who was shaking his little head listening to Big Maui self-deprecating humor.

Of course, it was a lame excuse because the old woman's ghost brought her hand to her mouth to muffle another peal of laughter.

* * *

Maui obviously isn't a klutz. When people saw him, he didn't come across as someone who was clumsy or capable of tripping on his own toe. But considering things that he did, the history that infused unto the living tapestry on his skin, and how long he had lived―it was a miracle to have him physically unscathed every single time he went on those life-threatening pursuit. (Moana made a good point when she said perhaps his scar were all psychological.)

Well… not entirely a miracle, because Maui consciously took care of his appearances, oiling his hair to its stayed lustrous and untangled, cleaning his teeth, so they were more dazzling than Tamatoa's treasure, and exercising regularly to keep in shape.

Perhaps, the gods really took a good care of him. Perhaps the ocean did him a favor too in avoiding him getting any unwanted dent over his perfect body. Or perhaps his demigod awesomeness, something that had made him unexplainably debonair, sleek and never stumbled or tripped up. Or probably his supernatural metabolism had enabled his body to fix itself miraculously. It was all sounded positively favoring him to retain his good looks and remained perfectly blemish-free for eternity. But after speaking with a few mortals―Maui was revising his thought.

 _Perhaps, it'll be cool if I have one blemish._

It was when his chance finally came to earn that most coveted badge of heroism. Obviously, at that point of time, Maui didn't know that perhaps fate had been saving the moment up for one big epic, climactic grand finale.

Both Maui and Moana were cornered by their cute but menacing looking coconuts monster, Kakamora, who had stolen a precious family heirloom from the Chieftess of Whaakari.

With the precious artifact embedded in her hand, Moana whizzed inside the dense of the coppice while Maui attempted to slow down their nemesis so she could hide into safety.

The forest opened into a barren plateau. Moana screeched to a stop when she realized the plateau's rim was within her sight. It was a cliff with a good few hundred meters drops into the depth of obscurity. The abyss was so deep that Moana couldn't see where it ended.

Maui was soon caught up with her, and so was their adorable looking enemies.

And then something happened, one of the coconut pirate launched its (Him? Her? I don't know coconut gender) lethal arrow towards Moana, straight to her chest. If she weren't standing on the ledge, she would have nimbly leaped elsewhere to avoid it. With not many options to find a safe footing, Moana just stunned there, as though her motor control suddenly betrayed her and forced her to surrender to her fate.

Maui was equally cornered, but he always had an option to morph into something with wings to save himself from his demise.

Within his peripheral vision, Maui watched the arrow traveled towards Moana. He acknowledged that he had no time to transform into an eagle and fly to rescue her―without much thinking, Maui threw his fish hook to thwart the devastating attack.

The sound of blade sang through the air as the two weapons collided. For a fleeting moment, the Demigod was relieved to see his action had saved his friend. But then, something happened.

As Moana stepped backward closer to the chasm, the ground beneath her feet began to crack. With a subtle crackling sound, the earth below her foot drifted, progressively sliding down under pressure of her feet.

"Arggh…!" Maui was alerted when he heard her jarring voice split the air. Moana desperately hopped to the rim of the ledge, but on placing her footing, the brittle rock began to collapse under her weight. The entire large chuck of ledge crumbled off its support and toppled into the abyss. Maui watched in horror as gravity took her lithe form into the darkness of the chasm together with the debris off the cliff.

It was then his protective instinct kicked in. No matter how illogical, reckless and downright insane his action was, seeing there was no option left, his brain had commanded his body to leap into the crevasse to save his best friend.

Maui made use of his heavy bulk to create the velocity to finally catch up with Moana. When he did, he snatched her by the wrist, tugged her waist to his torso and encased her with his large form as dismal abyss closing in.

* * *

In his dream, Maui was floating across the endless sea, basking in the sun and feeling the warm breeze gently caressing him. And then, there was a seagull. It didn't squawk, it spoke and called his name. "Maui…!"

At first, he was awestruck, it wasn't every day he saw a bird (apart from himself) that could talk. But after a while, it began to get annoying. Thus, he shooed and tried to scare it, but it obstinately lingered, repeating the same thing. So... with one damaging sway, he swatted it hard. It yelped, not only that… it retaliated…! And slapped him back. _Harder_. Maui had no doubt this tenacious seagull had stubbornness closely rivaled his own.

"Owwww! Ugh, you don't have to slap me that hard!" he whined. The creature withdrew at his exclamation; brows slanted furiously.

Cracking his eyes open, Maui found the most beautiful, exotic creature ever lived, staring at him. Her deep dark brown eyes looked deeply into him… rubbing one of her sun-kissed cheek like it had been smacked― _Duh!_

 _Gods, did I just accidentally punch the guardian of the underworld? I remember Hine-nui-te-po is pretty but didn't know she looks waaaay much better now. Did she...did she change her makeup or somethin'?_

But the way she frowned thunderously, the darkening of her expression, gave him a cue that things might not be as they seemed. Maui tried to sit up, but a sudden jolt of pain assaulted his right shoulder, causing him to wince in agony and surrender his burly mass back on the makeshift bed.

"Stop it you idiot! Just lay still," Moana immediately pushed his shoulder back down. There were crusted of dry tears underneath her beautiful eyes. The weight of her expression, brimmed with worry and regret, cutting deep through him, wrapping tight around his heart.

Then, Maui realized he wasn't in heaven―he was in a room that filled with bottles of solvent and bags of spices. The smell itself ranging from medicinal to repugnant.

"Ugh… what, what happened?" he rubbed his eyes, waking them up from his fantastical daze and restoring his blurred vision.

"You jumped after me you insane-psychotic-impetus Demigod! What were you thinking?" and tears began to stream down her cheeks.

Maui shook his head, pretended to be offended,"I was thinking a thank you note will be lying around somewhere."

Moana managed to stifle a small giggle between her relentless sobs.

"Hey...hey, I am ok… I am fine, Curly," carefully he sat up even though his back protesting violently for such demand. "It will take a lot more things to kill a...―" he abruptly fell silent when she lunged at him and extended her arms as far as she could muster around his broad figure and around his neck. He was stunned for a moment, before his hand creeping on her back, requited the same sentiment, encasing her deceptively tiny frame in the boundless care of his arms. If there were something, _anything_ that would evoke a terrified scream out of him―that would be to see her die without him trying to save her.

They stayed that way until the pain disturbed the magic of their intimate moment, sending Maui hissing in agony.

"Sorry...sorry…!" Moana apologized profusely, fumbling backward and nearly fell off the bed if it was not because Maui deftly grabbed her wrist.

"Wo...wo...wo… calm down Kiddo. Here, sit next to me," he invited.

Once she sat down, her hand reached his shoulder, following the curve of the bandage, finger pausing there as if remembering those heart-stopping moment that nearly ended his immortal existence in exchange of hers. "Your right shoulder scraped the wall of the chasm badly. Even my Dad nearly fainted while helping the healer dressing your wound. There...there was so much… ― " her words lost in her throat, dissolved between heaving breaths and restrained sobs."And it's all because of me," Moana said trying to sound unaffected but beads of tears balancing again on the corner of her eyes.

Commanded by his muscle reflex, Maui's large hand deftly wiped the watering droplets from falling."Hey… let's not start on 'whose fault is this'. We are a team. Remember?" he said soothingly, seeing her sad was on a top of a very long list of things Maui could not deal with, perhaps never.

"It would likely to leave a permanent mark," Moana stated morosely. "It will ruin your wonderful tattoos," her face fell into a despondent frown.

Maui grasped her hand keenly."And that would be perfect," he grinned, his fingers curls around hers, warm and comforting.

"What?" she blurted, incredulous."You said..―?"

"I said, it would be _perfect_ ," Maui repeated, a touch louder, latching his eyes on hers with a firm reassurance.

"But...but I thought..―"

"That I am a vain demigod?" He offered, scoffing in mock annoyance.

"Look, I know… my hair and my bod _are_ important," he said again, tilting her chin towards him as though he would say something important. "But nothing….I repeat…. _nothing_ is as important as…. _you_ ," he emphasized with the seriousness that Moana had never seen of him before, not in this kind of context.

 _You have no idea how much you mean to me, Kiddo._ He mused in his head, recalling the tremor that shook his spine when he saw her plummeting towards the bottom of the chasm. He had thrown his Fish Hook before he decided to throw himself into the dismal abyss because he would do _everything_ and _anything_ to keep her save… to keep her alive… to keep her with him.

But the illusion of affectionate moment was abruptly broken when a narcissistic smile blooming across his face."Besides, I am sure I will look

"Besides, I am sure I will look waaay _hotter_ with a scar to flaunt!" he bragged and jutted his chest, but his injured back hated him for it. "Ouch-!"

"It must hurt like hell," Moana scooted closer. If it wasn't because his scrunched up face and unbridled whimper of pain, she was almost tempted to tease him. But, perhaps rubbing his sore shoulder gently was a far more appropriate reaction for now."I wished I could make it less painful," she panned her sight around the room, looking for any possible remedy.

"I wished I could make it less painful," she said sympathetically, panning her sight around the room and seeking for any possible remedy.

"Well...," Maui began."If you could kiss it better… I would say it totally worth it," he smiled invitingly. Of course, he was just joking, but he would never guess what Moana would do next.

Hearing his request, Moana's lips fell into a mysterious smile, which in turn made Maui's stunned on his seat and his stomach churned in a nervous twist.

Without warning, she lurched forward, pressing her tender, warm lips over his back in a long lazy drag, gently trailing towards his shoulder, before stopping on the nape of his neck. His skin tingled with an unexplainable billowing crest of pleasure, and the sense of her warm breath spilling over his bare shoulder lingered like a cuddle of passionate embrace―it was just the _perfect_ medicine he needed.

"Better now?"

"Uh… I didn't… didn't expect that, but… Thank you," he said shyly, fumbling in reluctance after Moana returned to sit next to him. " Yes. Yes. I..uh, I feel much… much better now." All his usual debonair attitude inexplicably crumbled under the spell of her eyes.

"You're welcome, glad I could make you feel better," she replied eloquently. An unrestrained brilliance was blossoming across her face.

Suddenly, a genius idea came to him.

"Oh… next time I'll ask Kakamora to injure me right on my…. _lips_ ," he announced with an amused, mischievous smile twitching his lips.

"Maui!" the girl scolded him.

Even his mini embodiment on his right pectoral, folded his arm and shaking his head disparagingly before showing his thumb and pointed it downward.

"Hey, worth a try!" Maui scoffed, rebuking Mini Maui's disapproving gesture.

* * *

Ok, perhaps I was a little lazy for putting a scene from my other fiction here (It's Arranged), nonetheless hope you enjoyed it. This story meant to be on the same series as my other one shot, 'Thank you'.

This piece is not beta-ed, so I apologize for any grammatical hiccup.

The scene where Maui jumped is inspired by 'A Different Lesson' by nievelion


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